Luke 8:54

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Political/World Issues

Guest writer Chris Hutto has written something so compelling that I had to share it with you. It's an amazing read. Thought provoking, convicting, mind blowing and simply brilliant. A must read. It is longer, but once I started I couldn't stop. Please leave your comments! I would like to hear from you!

Despair
increases steadily as does the terrible hunger, the like of which
mankind has never yet suffered. With complete assurance we may say
that they have not left us even a jot of that which is called body or
soul.

In
truth, the world deserves only that we spit in its face…Sudden
death, hunger, deportation, interrogations, labor, queues, etc., etc.
wreak havoc on the ruined vineyard of Israel, among the poor remnant.
Will you O God, keep silent? How can you, having seen it?

July
31, 1944

My…heart
is cut to pieces when I perceive how terrible my little sister is
tormented. She lost literally everything- no stockings, no clothes…no
tenderness. O you poor orphan, and what you have to suffer by my
unjust treatment, because of my destroyed nerves. You, poor being,
must help yourself with substitutes: instead of stockings some rags,
instead of boots some wooden contrivance…God seems to have
abandoned us totally and left us entirely to the mercy of the
heartless fiends. Almighty God, how can you do this?

August
3, 1944

When
I look at my little sister my heart is melting. Hasn’t the child
suffered its part? She has fought so heroically the last five years.
When I look on our cozy little room tidied up by the young,
intelligent, poor being I am greatly saddened by the thought that
soon she and I will have to leave our last particle of home.

Oh
God in heaven, why didst thou create Germans to destroy humanity? I
don’t even know if I shall be allowed to be together with my
sister. I cannot write more. I am resigned terribly and black
spirited.

That
was a few entries from the diary of an unknown Jewish boy orphaned,
along with his younger sister, by the Nazis. The children lived in
the Lodz Ghetto in Poland where they were forced into slave labor.
After the war his diary was found written in the margins of an old
French novel. Both of the children were murdered.

Even
though the Jews were forced to live in the confines of the ghettos,
people, often children, would sneak through the borders and scavenge
for food to bring back to their families. The Gentiles (Goyim as the
Jews called them) were not allowed to mingle or assist the Jews in
their plight…but some did anyway.

Imagine
for a moment that this was happening in our country. Our Jewish
population was being dehumanized and confined to bordered ghettos in
YOUR city. Imagine that we lived in a country that taught us through
the school system, media and court rulings that the Jews were not
human like you or I because of their race. Evil propaganda spread
like wildfire on the internet assuring us that annihilating the Jews
was for the betterment of our civilized society. The Gentiles
justified their murder by calling it “choice” and “rights.”
Imagine also that 80% of your fellow Americans supported this
discriminatory ideology.

Can
you picture it? You were born in a country this way. You aren’t
even surprised anymore when you see the smoke rising from the
crematoria. That’s how it’s always been…well, at least since
you can remember. You are disgusted at the racist barbarism but just
try not to think about it too often. During the elections you
faithfully vote for the candidate you think will help make the Jewish
people a bit more comfortable. You are satisfied with the fulfillment
of your duty. You stand for what is right with your vote! I mean,
just two months ago a provision was voted on in your state that
allowed the elderly Jewish people 85 and older to live outside of the
ghettos. Not only that but it actually passed! Life is good…or is
it?

Imagine
once more that you need to head into town to pick up a few groceries.
No big deal. You hop into the car and head strait for the
supermarket. Your day is busy but this will only take a few minuets.
Zipping absentmindedly around traffic you make a left turn and speed
down 7th Street.
Less traffic down here. A long razor-wire fence stretches the length
of the road, an ancient brick building looms beyond the boarder. Dark
billows of smoke curl like a wicked smile from a blackened chimney.
It’s the Ghetto hospital were the Jews go to get “taken care of.”

Turning
up the Christian radio station you try and ignore the place but are
stopped short when two children dart from the curb and into the road.
Quickly, you slam on the breaks and come to a screeching halt. The
children are frozen in their tracks right in the middle of the road
and stop to see what you will do. You know that they have just
escaped from the prison-like ghetto.

Reddened
eyes stare back at you from swollen lids and tallow colored faces.
Stained and tattered rags cling to the children’s sweaty, emaciated
bodies. Hunger and fear are etched deep in their beings. Bitterness
and resentment leap from the boy’s eyes. In one hand he holds his
sister’s tightly and in the other an old book. Golden words grace
the front of the hardback cover…are those french words? You don’t
have time to figure it out.

A
piercing alarm rings out across the city. The children have been
missed. A dog barks in the distance. A few shouts echo from beyond
the ghetto fence. The children would never have a chance on their
own. The city teems with police and people that are more than happy
to turn over runaways for a promised reward.

You
love the Jews. You aren’t a racist. You see the “King of the
Jews” in your mind’s eye with children sitting at His feet. You
worship these young Jew’s Messiah. Startled, the children run to
your window and plead with you to let them in. You can’t hear their
faint, despairing voices over, “God’s so good” blaring from the
stereo. Now you can really see their faces stained with tears. They
beat on the window with their fists. Two guards appear on the
hospital grounds, weapons raised. A German shepherd bounds forward
with a menacing growl and slams his body into the fence just a few
feet behind the children. Tension floods the air. Screams from the
children, barking from the dog and curses from the armed men all
scrambled into a chaotic frenzy. Your heart pounds against your chest
in rhythm to the pathetic drumbeat of the Jewish children’s fists.
Police units assemble on both sides of the streets.

Oh,
what was that? A faint sound hummed in your pocket. You look down.
There is was again! Suddenly a burst of laughter irrupts from your
mouth. Excitedly you whisk the phone from your pocket and glance at
the screen. Incoming call. It’s Sammy! You answer, “Hey, what’s
up?” A bouncy voice answers back, “Not much. And you?” You
laugh and after a short pause look at the children. They’ve stopped
screaming. The despondency in their eyes screams louder than their
voices ever could.

“Um,
nothing really…Just headed for the store.”

“Great!
You have time for coffee?”

You look out
your window and see the guards closing in.

“Yeah,
I think so. I’ll meet you at Starbucks. Sound good?” You snap the
car into gear and zoom off.

“Yep,
sounds good. See you in a bit.”

You hang up
the phone with a smile.

“Coffee
sounds great right now.”

You
are free and it feels good to take a drive…even if you are busy. A
few angry gun shots scream through the air but you don’t notice.
You were just at the best spot in your favorite hymn and singing
along.

That
would never happen, right? How could I ever be so hardhearted? If I
saw another human in need I would stop and help, wouldn’t I? I
would be brave like Corrie Ten Boom, Miep Gies, and Dietrich
Bonhoeffer.

After
shopping you head strait to the coffee shop and meet your friend. You
are having a wonderful time. Outwardly you chat about what is new and
exciting in your life but inwardly you wrestle with accusing thoughts
in your mind.

Should I
have helped those children? Well, I am really busy this summer.

But you
could have taken a bit of time out of your busy schedule to save a
life.

They were
going to die anyway and besides what could I do
when thousands die everyday?

Don’t
you think it is your moral obligation?

I know
what you mean but that isn’t my ministry. I have
never been led to help the Jews.

Do you
have to be “led” to do what’s right?

Well…the
Holy Spirit hasn’t given me a peace about it yet.

What about
the peace of those children?

I’ll do
it in my own way. I wouldn’t want to offend any of the guards.

They are
murderers!

Jesus was
loving and…

I know. So
loving that He gave His whole life to save the lives of others.

But, that
was Jesus!

Now
it’s your turn.

Nonchalantly
you say good bye to your friend and drain the last drops of your mug.
It was a long day and you hurry home. Out of habit you take
7th again.
The street is abandoned and lonely. In the center on the road you
notice a small object. Is it a book? Gold letters gleam brightly in
the sunlight of the evening golden hour. Carefully you pull alongside
the book and open your door. The words are French on the cover. It is
an old French novel. Your curious fingers reach down and scoop up the
fragile book. Nothing extraordinary about it. Just an old book.

You gasp and
recoil your hands in shock. The book falls, binding up, smashing the
yellowed pages. Dark blood spots the back of the book. It is the
boy’s blood. Hurriedly you slam the door shut and speed away from
the sight of blood. The steering wheel feels sticky. No, it can’t
be! There is blood on your hands.

2 comments:

Wow, this made me cry...and wonder -- would I have the courage to help in the face of danger like that? willing to risk my own life for the life of another?? only with God's strength and grace and mercy would that be possible.

This post was so amazing! I had previously read it but it was just as amazing the second time around. This was very convicting and it really made me think!Amazing job Chris, really well written. Thanks for posting it Toni.